WWE NXT Review - March 19, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Roxanne Perez def. Tatum Paxley

These two brawled before the bell even rang, which made sense considering the bad blood they've built up for each other in the last two months. There was no question who was going over, but I appreciated that Paxley got to score as much offense as she did in what was a competitive contest. She's improved throughout her alliance with Lyra Valkyria and the character work has helped her a lot. Valkyria returned afterward, leading to Ava making her NXT Women's Championship match with Perez official for Stand & Deliver.

NXT North American Champion Oba Femi, Josh Briggs and Dijak Brawled

Briggs really hasn't done anything to earn himself an opportunity at the NXT North American Championship, so I have no idea why he was involved in this segment other than to take issue with how Femi demolished Brooks Jensen last week. Dijak makes way more sense to be contending for the title coming off his Asylum win over Joe Gacy two weeks ago. This was simple stuff and set the stage for what will likely be a Triple Threat for the title at Stand & Deliver. Femi has been coming along nicely, but I'd love to see Dijak finally win gold in NXT.

Nathan Frazer and Axiom def. No Quarter Catch Crew (Myles Borne and NXT Heritage Cup Champion Charlie Dempsey) to Qualify for the NXT Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Triple Threat Match

Frazer and Axiom have gelled really well as a team and were the better fit to advance to the number one contender's Triple Threat next week. All of these guys can work (though Borne is clearly the most inexperienced one of the bunch), so this was a fun matchup. Even though he wasn't the one pinned, I don't know why Dempsey had to be involved in this when Damon Kemp could have easily filled in.

Sol Ruca def. Brinley Reece

Ruca's first televised match back from injury was actually on Level Up last week. Putting her in shorter matches as she finds her footing again is the way to go and thus this served as a solid showcase for her. Her finisher remains a spectacle. Blair Davenport attacked her afterward to further that feud because she was the one credited with putting her on the shelf last year. I assume Davenport is sticking around in NXT just to lose to everyone her character has injured in the last year.

Tony D'Angelo and NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov Exchanged Words

Dragunov didn't appear in person for this segment, which was weird, but nonetheless, this was effective in hyping up their NXT Championship clash for Stand & Deliver. D'Angelo needed to show his serious side without the gimmicky stuff and I thought he did that really well here. His singles push still feels abrupt, but I have no doubt he'll hold his own against Dragunov. Speaking of Dragunov, he'll face Channing Lorenzo next week.

Drew Gulak def. Riley Osbourne in a Heritage Cup Rules Match

To my knowledge, this was the first Heritage Cup Rules match I've seen in some time that wasn't contested for the championship. I can't say I'm excited to see more of them, mostly because the stipulation doesn't do much for me, but at least this was well wrestled. Jasmyn Nyx, Jacy Jane's new best friend, cost Osborne the win. She'll make her in-ring debut next week. I have yet to see her in action, so I'm curious how she'll do.

The O.C. (Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows) def. Tank Ledger and Hank Walker to Qualify for the NXT Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Triple Threat Match

Did anyone honestly expect Hank and Tank to win here? The O.C. recently showed up and I couldn't tell you the last time Hank and Tank won on television. Despite that, this was a pretty good hoss fight and not the glorified squash I thought it would be. We also found out on this show that if Otis and Akira Tozawa can beat Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin next week, then they'll be added to the NXT Tag Team Championship match at Stand & Deliver, completely bypassing the mini tournament in the process.

Trick Williams def. Noam Dar

Much like last week, Dar had no business being in the main event segment. He's obviously more than competent as a wrestler, but it was virtually impossible to take seriously against Williams. Their match was decent, but it shouldn't have taken Williams as long as it did to put him away. The post-match angle with Carmelo Hayes laying out Williams was well done, even if it was pretty basic.

Overall Show

The build for Stand & Deliver hasn't been consistently strong, but I'm sold on the show for the three top matches alone. The rest of the card will fall into place and I'm sure it will be an entertaining event on the whole. As for this edition of NXT, it was serviceable yet nothing special. Once again, there aren't any matches or segments worth seeking out, but I did think that D'Angelo promo was needed and was the highlight of the night for me.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews